A tribute by Pir Zia Inayat-Khan

In the week after Sri Chinmoy’s passing, Pir Zia Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International, came to Aspiration-Ground, Sri Chinmoy’s meditation garden in New York, to give this moving tribute.

Beloved ones of God, lovers of Mahaguru Hazrat Sri Chinmoy, I can hardly speak for the power of my feeling at this moment: to be with you here marking the transition of this great saint, this great man of God, who has touched all of our lives so deeply, and to feel how his spirit has, moving beyond the physical body, saturated the atmosphere, surrounding and pervading us with love, guidance, tremendous compassion.

It is an unforgettable moment to witness this passing on of a great soul, feeling in ourselves the sadness, the great sadness of knowing that we will no longer have the privilege of encountering him in his embodied humanity, and looking back with incredible tenderness over those moments that we had the good fortune to experience in his presence—but knowing, too, that in death he has not died. The friends of God do not die. His power is not less at this moment, but more than ever before. And he is more closely united with each one of us in our hearts, and ever will be, until Eternity.

May we all strive forward into the future, carrying his love in our hearts and carrying his work in our hands. He was and is a visionary who saw the possibility of a beautiful future for this planet, beyond all of the divisions of caste and creed, of nation and religion. He was a visionary of the one planetary civilisation of the spirit, and it is for us now to serve that vision with all of our hearts, all of our minds and all of our souls.

It is such an incredible privilege for me to mark this moment with you, to share the great love that I have in my heart for Mahaguru Sri Chinmoy. May the peace and blessings of the Eternal Absolute Being resound in our hearts through the memory and abiding presence of his continual grace. Amen.